Woolworths and its subsidiary taken to court over underpayment of dues

A supermarket giant has been slapped with more than 1000 charges over the alleged underpayment of more than $1m in long service leave to staff.

Woolworths Group and its subsidiary Woolstar are charged with underpaying more than $1 million in long service leave to 1235 former employees.

Supermarket giant Woolworths is facing more than 1000 criminal charges for allegedly underpaying long service leave worth upwards of $1m to hundreds of Victorian workers.

The Victorian Wage Inspectorate has filed charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court alleging Woolworths and its subsidiary Woolstar underpaid 1235 former employees, with

individual underpayments ranging from $250 to more than $12,000 between 2018 and 2021.

About 1999 employees were allegedly underpaid $960,000 at Woolworths and 36 employees were underpaid $45,000 at Woolstar.

The matter was called for mention in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday and an adjournment was sought. The court was informed the matter has been resolved.

Both parties will return to court on April 18 when the case is expected to be finalised.

The Victorian Wage Inspectorate has taken supermarket giant Woolworths to court over alleged underpayment of long service leave to hundreds of employees.

Under Victoria’s 2018 long service law, workers get long service leave after seven years and employers must pay any unused entitlements once they leave their job.

Most Victorian employees will be covered by and entitled to long service leave in accordance with the Long Service Leave Act, unless they have a long service leave entitlement from another source, such as under other legislation, a registered agreement, award or another law.

Commissioner of Law Inspectorate Victoria, Robert Hortle, said Victorians expected businesses with significant payroll resources to get this stuff right and would be disappointed to see a household name facing underpayment allegations.

“Long service leave is a long standing, valued workplace entitlement in Victoria, and the Wage Inspectorate is here to ensure it is paid when it is owed.”

“The amount of underpayment never tells the full story in long service leave matters. It’s hard to put a value on the leave workers were initially denied. Time that could have been spent with family, travelling or just relaxing.”